What is “Definiteness of Purpose,” and do You have it?
Posted by Chris & Hilary on December 2nd, 2011
As I attended one of the Team’s (co-founded by Orrin Woodward and Chris Brady) LIFE open meetings recently, the speaker discussed a concept taught by Napoleon Hill. In his book, he studied successful people and based on his research found four principles that successful people apply. I have not read the book (it’s on my list!) and am not claiming to be an expert, but one of the principles the speaker mentioned really spoke to me.
He said, “Have a definiteness of purpose backed by a burning desire to fulfill it.” To someone who isn’t around leadership principles, this may sound a little funny, or hard to understand. How can we have a definiteness of purpose in life if we’re just trying to make it through the day? How can we have a definiteness of purpose with our children if we’re just wishing they would hurry up because we’ve got ten thousand other things to do? How can we have a definiteness of purpose with our spouse if we don’t have time to spend good quality time with them?
My point is, what the speaker said hit me hard. It had an impact on my thinking. Immediately.
How many of us wish we could take a few minutes each day, put our worries and work aside, and spend good quality time with our spouse or children? Or wish we could take a look at our life and live by our priorities instead of our obligations? How much would life be different if we all lived by our priorities?
But that’s just the first part of the equation…the definiteness of purpose has to be backed by a burning desire to fulfill it. Ah ha. That’s the hard part. The desire to do whatever. it. takes. to fulfill our definiteness of purpose. Living by your priorities is not easy. It means letting the phone ring when you’re spending time with your children. It means leaving work at work, even though your work is not finished. It means taking the time to read books and apply the information you’ve learned, even though it’s easier to watch tv. It means being diligent with your finances even though it’s easier to use a credit card. It means doing the hard work and disciplining yourself in whatever area you define as your definiteness of purpose.
That’s what I love about the information that LIFE provides. It consistently gives us information to help us fulfill our definiteness of purpose. The LIFE information encompasses everything I mentioned above (time with your children, relationship with your spouse, growing personally, better finances, etc.) and more. We are so thankful that we got over our skepticism to actually take a look at the information. It truly has changed our lives. I now live with a definiteness of purpose AND a burning desire to fulfill it.
LIFE is good.
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December 15th, 2011 at 12:13 pm
Hilary, Thank you so much for being YOU! If you took 100 people who listened to the same talk given that night, they’d give you 100 different perspectives. Since i missed that one….THANK YOU for pulling out that principle to share with everyone! We’re so excited for your family to be learning timeless principles together. I’ve learned in the past year that my purpose in “just making it through the day” is to have an attitude of gratitude and create a joyful home. Take the crazy days and MAKE them FUN! C’mon, WE’RE THE MOM!! Love you lots!
December 17th, 2011 at 3:10 pm
Man am i blessed to have a wife like you. Great post. I am very thankful for how you have really worked to implement this life changing information from LIFE in our family and our community. Over just the last year and a half, I have seen you really develop yourself by being a great student of the LIFE subscription and the TEAM training system. Great job. Love ME!!!!!!!
December 19th, 2011 at 6:30 pm
Thanks for this great post and for sharing your perspective on such a compelling topic, definiteness of purpose. It’s amazing how it changes over the years, mostly based on our inputs. We are thankful for the information and association that LIFE provides so we can constantly inform our purpose and pursue it in community. “A rising tide lifts all ships,” thanks to you and Chris for raising the tide!